Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z

Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z (1956)

*** (out of 4)

The eighth pairing of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner is yet another winner, although the beatings poor Wile takes keep getting worse. This time out we don't even get past the opening credits when Mr. Wile is run down by a truck but we then get other attacks including large rocks, falling from cliffs and various bombs. One of the best sequences in the film is when the coyote dressing up as "bat-man" and tries to fly after his dinner. This plan works for a while but what makes the joke so funny is that you're expecting one gag but instead we get something else. Another great gag is the painted version of a broken bridge, which of course comes back to hurt Wile.

The writer in this one wasted no time depicting Wile E. Coyote (Eatius Birdius) taking physical abuse, being run over by a truck and having a crate fall on his head in the opening credits!

The Road Runner (Delicius Delicius), meanwhile, is in top form, making rectangular smoke with his quick turns and then making the pavement wobble like an earthquake hit it after he roars down the road. Even the coyote is impressed as he pulls out a sign to show us, saying "Egad!!!"

He then starts thinking, which means here we go again: more inventive ways to catch the elusive bird. The ones that stood out, at least to me, were: the "confused" bullet, the green "Batman" outfit and flying sequence, Wile's great painting and perhaps best of all: the coyote's final request to the cartoon writer!

Overall, an excellent Road Runner effort.

In this, the eighth pairing of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, the highly memorable gag of the batman type suit was first shown. And in a delightful change of the expected the crafty coyote paints a bridge, but this time it's a torn down bridge and the Road Runner goes through the painting, Wile E. is the one to go into it this time around. And as always ANY short with Wile E. in it is so VERY much worth watching, as he's one of my absolute favorite cartoon personalities of all time. This animated short can be seen on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection Volume 2. This cartoon also has an optional music only track.

My Grade: A-

I don't have any idea why, but this cartoon can be found on archive.org for free download and is listed as a 'banned cartoon'. However, after viewing it, I saw absolutely nothing potentially offensive about it and think this is a mistake. It's yet another brilliant Roadrunner cartoon from Chuck Jones--and the quality is as good you can get. While it would be pointless to comment on the plot at any length (you just need to see it), the Coyote once again tries many different Acme products in order to catch that darned bird--and, as usual, to no effect other than beating the tar out of poor Wiley Coyote! You'll see him don a bat-man outfit, ride a jet engine as well as paint a scene with the bridge being out (with predictable but very enjoyable results). The bottom line is that this film shows the characters once they've hit their stride--clever and funny all the way. I especially enjoyed the cute ending. Well worth seeing and you have to be dead no to enjoy this one.

Seriously, if I had the ability, I would waste all my days watching Looney Tunes cartoons. Another perfect example as to why I would pursue such an extreme case of slothfulness is this cartoon here, which features more of Wile E. Coyote's attempts to catch his beloved Road Runner. Here we see yet more of Michael Maltese's ingenuity as our coyote continues his fixation on dynamite and many Acme products to get his bird.

Wile E. Coyote (Eatius Birdius), goes for Road Runner (Delicius Delicius) yet again.

Honestly, for the Jones/Maltese combo, this had become nearly standard fare. This is heightened with another foursome of excellent animators, who started together on the Pepe short, Wild Over You, a mere few years earlier. Does anyone know what Wile E. was going to accomplish with that bat costume? One of the better parts involve poor Wile E. holding up a steel plate to stop the Road Runner. If you love Looney Tunes, this is yet another mark on your checklist you must cross off!